Brooke Boney changed Australian breakfast TV. Today she said goodbye.

The fabulous Brooke Boney said goodbye to TV this morning.

The Today show did a tribute for Boney on her final day on the job as news presenter and entertainment reporter, and it was certainly an emotional program.

"I'm so grateful for every opportunity that I've been given here. I've done things that I never dreamed possible for someone like me," said Boney.

"As a young person I didn't see much of a future for myself beyond what my little imagination could conjure up. Because of the labour of my mum and my grandparents, it wasn't as bleak as it could have been. My good fortune has been hard won by those who came before me, and it's hard work too."

"I feel really overwhelmed," she added with tears in her eyes. When giving her farewell speech she was joined by her mother, who was sitting next to her supportingly.

Boney continued: "The Today show was the first breakfast show in the country to put an Aboriginal person on as a full-time host. And now it is a very normal thing to do in this time slot, and I am proud of that."

She then took the time to thank the audience saying, "Thank you for accepting me. 

"I know that I don't fit the mould and I'm grateful for each and every one of you for tuning in every day."

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Back in March, Boney announced she would be stepping down from her role on breakfast television, after five years with Today. 

She has been accepted to enter studies at Oxford University, meaning she is bidding farewell to TV.

"I just wanted to share that good/bad news with you all this morning. It just felt like the right time to take that step," the proud Gamilaroi woman explained at the time.

"I'm so grateful to come in here every day and I love you all so much. I feel like I'm going to cry, my head is spinning right now and my heart is beating really fast."

Boney said she's excited to head to the UK to embark on one of her biggest dreams.

"I've seen people get married, I've flown to London and rode a bus with Jason Momoa and Rome to talk to Dame Helen Mirren, I've covered the Oscars, I've done so much on this show. When I was younger, I never could have imagined being on the Today show. Never in my wildest dreams. It's such a privilege and none of that is lost on me."

Speaking previously on Mamamia's No Filter podcast, Boney said she never foresaw a career in TV for herself, coming from a very humble upbringing in the NSW Hunter region.

"I figured something to aspire to was to marry a coal miner and have children. But I also wanted to get out and see the world. I felt very stifled by the town."

With a single mum and five younger brothers and sisters living in housing commission, money was tight in the household.

"It was really hard. You think about things like money, jobs and prosperities as things that will never happen to you or that you'll never get to experience. You're living paycheck to paycheck, or you're borrowing from family members or getting Salvos hampers," Boney said.

"It's a really difficult experience when you're a kid because I think it forces you to grow up a lot faster than the people around you."

Watch: a look back on Brooke Boney's passionate January 26 speech. Post continues below.

It was work experience at the local radio station in high school that sparked a seed of interest in media for Boney. And a few years later, she decided a career in journalism was something she really wanted to pursue.

Boney started her television career as a political correspondent for SBS and then NITV before joining Today in 2019. She said she feels goosebumps when thinking back to the moment she was offered the monumental breakfast TV gig.

It was the profile of the show and its platform that attracted her. The opportunity to foster her goal of contributing to the national discourse around how Aboriginal people are viewed and see themselves was particularly front of mind.

"The things that have been done to us continue to affect us. And that's why there aren't many other Aboriginal people on commercial breakfast television, because it's a bloody hard slog. It's not easy to overcome the things that come with being Indigenous," she said.

Throughout her time on the show, Boney has interviewed some incredible people and reported on some powerful stories. She has also shared her perspective, as an Indigenous woman, on a series of topics discussed on Today — such as January 26, Indigenous rights in this country and more.

"I knew it would illicit some sort of reaction, but I guess I didn't know how big it would be. That's probably the most difficult thing about having expressed something so public that was so personal. When people said things like, 'She's unAustralian' I feel like that's so far from the truth," Boney said on No Filter.

"I want to show that there's a diverse range of Aboriginal people. And that's what television can do."

You can listen to the full interview with Brooke Boney on Mamamia's No Filter podcast here.

This article was originally published in March 2024, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Today/Nine.